5x Captain Kirkland Refused to Believe His Eyes
by LadyKnightOfHollyrose
Summary: ...and the One Time He Had No Choice. It had been a productive night for Captain Kirkland and his band of pirates; a successful raid had left the whole ship giddy with accomplishment long before the rum had been brought out.
1. A Trick Of The Light

Five Times Captain Kirkland Refused to Believe His Eyes and the One Time He Had No Choice

_**Disclaimer**_: I do not own Axis Powers Hetalia

_**Summary**_: It had been a productive night for Captain Kirkland and his band of pirates; a successful raid had left the whole ship giddy with accomplishment long before the rum had been brought out.

**#1 A Trick of The Light**

It had been a productive night for Captain Kirkland and his band of pirates; a successful raid had left the whole ship giddy with accomplishment long before the rum had been brought out. The celebrations had gone on long into the early hours of the morning and now as he steered the ship with only the company of the men on watch, he had to admit that he had let them go on for far longer than he perhaps should have.

While they had long since left the port where Captain Carriedo's ship had been docked foolishly unguarded, all signs of their presence eradicated, they needed to arrive at their merchant's within a timely fashion or else they'd be refused at the door.

Treasures and such were all well and good, but one needed to be able to trade those spoils for their monetary counterparts; ornaments could only do so much, after all.

The seas were calm, the wind blowing in their sails keeping up their streak of good fortune. The wheel only needed a slight tug every now and again to keep them on course, and Arthur felt his mind drift slightly. He would have liked to have seen Carriedo's face when he returned to find his ship completely empty – would have _loved_ to see his face when he realised the culprit – but, as he had explained to his crew over and over, this was a mission of utmost stealth. It was _far _more amusing to watch the Spanish pirate try to find a nemesis he knew nothing of.

He began to hum to himself, quietly and under his breath so as to not distract any of the other men on deck. It wasn't one of the drinking songs he had sung earlier with gusto, laughing with his men at a job well done. No, it was a song he'd heard when he'd been a cabin boy, his first time as a stowaway aboard a large ship with a few other boys who were always underfoot. He remembered telling one of the younger boys that the figurehead, a beautiful Mermaid, would one day come to life to seek vengeance on those who had entrapped he so; that her siren's song would pull all the men who had ever been aboard the ship down to greet Davy Jones, never to be seen again. The boy had quaked in his socks, while still insisting "I'd be spared a'cos I'm a Jones too!"

It had been the same boy from whom he'd heard this song, one that he'd said had been sung to him by his mother. It was a sweet song, almost like a lullaby, and although Arthur was captain if he was heard _he _would not be spared the teasing that would be sure to follow.

He wasn't sure when the humming turned into singing, but he kept his voice soft as he checked his compass, and then looked up at the Crow's Nest – he'd have Terry's head if he'd fallen asleep up there.

As he let his eyes drift back down to the deck, Arthur had to blink. There, perched on the side of the deck with crossed arms resting on the banister was a man. Silvery hair, luminescent red eyes and alabaster skin, the man looked entirely otherworldly. And he was staring straight at Arthur. There was a lazy sort of grin on the man's face, and Arthur barely registered it when the man threw him an impish wink, before disappearing.

Rushing over to stare down at the ocean, Arthur almost thought he'd imagined the whole thing until he saw the swish-flick of silvery scaled tail fins disappear into the distance, glinting slightly in the light of the rising sun.

"Cap'n?"

Shaking his head, Arthur returned to the wheel. "It's nothing." Clearly he'd had more rum than he'd thought. Or he needed some kip. Either way, one thing was certain; he was seeing things that couldn't possibly be real.

-Hollyrose-

**_A/N:_** Hokay, so this is the first part of a series of six (as you may have guessed) for revolutionjack, who wanted something with Merman!Prussia and Pirate!England =) Hopefully this is okay so far despite the lack of Prussia; he should be turning up more in the rest of it!


	2. A Trick Of The Mind

Five Times Captain Kirkland Refused to Believe His Eyes and the One Time He Had No Choice

_**Disclaimer**_: I do not own Axis Powers Hetalia

_**Summary**_: It had been a productive night for Captain Kirkland and his band of pirates; a successful raid had left the whole ship giddy with accomplishment long before the rum had been brought out.

**#2 A Trick of The Mind**

He hadn't been sure what to make of it when he heard one of the cabin boys giggling about how their mermaid figurehead had managed to gain a beard overnight; he'd been fairly sure the lad had just been telling tall tales until he went out onto the deck to see for himself. Captain Kirkland was torn somewhere between incredulity and, oddly enough, amusement as he stared at the fairly large wad of seaweed that had somehow decorated the mermaid's face to resemble a beard.

Masking the smile that threatened to take over his face, he ordered it be removed from the poor maiden's face; it would do nothing for their reputation if they left it there, after all. So it had been removed, and that had been the last he'd heard of the matter.

Or so he had thought.

Arthur had been speaking to the quartermaster and carpenter the next time it was brought up. As they descended the stairs, Green had been woefully recounting how he had almost fallen overboard the pervious morning as he had removed the offending seaweed; he hoped that it would not be him who drew the short straw once again to remove the leafy mess this time. Hart had commented on how unnatural it was that it had shown up two days in a row, and before the man could get caught up in his superstitions Arthur had excused himself from his own conversation to stride up the stairs and out onto the forecastle deck. Lo and behold, the beard was back, though the seaweed used that day was a little on the browner side than the crisper green of the day before. Again, he called for it to be cleaned quickly so that they could get back to their other tasks for the day.

The third day it had occurred, he hadn't had to say a word; the men were already drawing straws to decide who would be charged with the task of removal for the day.

Practically the whole ship had expected the same to occur the next day; had already accepted it as part of their daily routine by now. Straws were drawn before the men had even made it on deck, only for the unlucky victim to find he was not so unlucky after all, for that day the mermaid had not been tampered with.

That was not to say that that was the last of the strange occurrences on board the ship.

The men on Port side of the ship were drenched by a wave one morning as they worked, though when they tentatively looked down the edge of the ship the waters were as serene as they were on all other sides of the ship with only tiny fish swimming about there.  
>It happened once more that day, mid-morning this time, and learning their lesson the men who could move their work had done so and edged over to Starboard to continue their duties.<p>

Very few of the men had managed stay dry by that evening, either way.

The following couple of days had been so hot that many of the men had hoped for a repeat performance of water works. Instead, when they took off their boots and turned away to work, they would find them filled with seaweed and on one occasion, starfish.

It wasn't until early morning a week later that the Captain himself was targeted by what his crew had decided must be a mischievous water nymph. Well, that or a vengeful spirit of some kind, though they admitted that none of the tricks so far had been particularly malicious.

Arthur had felt mildly harassed by the sound of the loud, obnoxious braying that had rang out every time he had opened his mouth to speak but had felt a little wry amusement at first. After all, he would have chuckled at the expense of his own superiors before when he had been a lowly cabin boy those years before. By afternoon, he was annoyed enough to order the source to be found and shooed away. By evening he was ready to have the thing caught so that it could be roasted for their next meal.

It was as the sun had begun to make its decent into the seas for the night that the silly thing had been spotted hiding behind one of the sales and hopping away every time it seemed to be close to being caught. Silhouetted against the while cloth, its hiding place was now clear as day, and Terry was once again sent up to the crow's nest to scare the offending bird away.

It took flight, cackling as it circled the ship once before flying away and the entire crew had heaved a sigh. Even for the crew, as amusing as it had been to begin with, were relieved that it had left; the cawing had soon become grating on the nerves and an unwelcome distraction from their duties.

As everyone set about settling for the night, Arthur sighed, leaning against the mast.

"The Black-browed Albatross; s'what I've heard you land walkers call 'em."

Arthur started; that wasn't a voice he recognised as a member of his crew's. Turning around, Arthur froze, his eyes alighting upon a smug smirk and red eyes that he had dismissed once before as his imagination. He couldn't respond; after all, was it common to respond to an apparition? He thought not.

The smirk turned catlike as the mysterious being – man? It was definitely male – continued. "It kind of reminded me of you, you know."

Arthur's lips parted, though he wasn't sure what he had a mind to say. The two stared at each other for a moment, before the silver haired head tilted to a side as though in dismissal and disappeared.

Arthur didn't bother watching the body sink into the ocean and swim away as he had the last time. He didn't pinch himself. He was still staring at the dampened wood where pale arms had lain crossed only moments before.

-Hollyrose-

**_A/N:_**Not much to say on this one apart from w000000t exams are over and done with! 8D And yay, I'm going home for the weekend on Friday 3

Ahem.


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